With much controversy in today’s safety world regarding the many systems being implemented in order to change the culture of safety, Colin is joined by Dominic Cooper for a wide-ranging, insightful conversation about why the culture of safety needs to change, the principles behind some of safety’s most lauded systems, how the psychology of safety affects the sector, and why any shifts in thinking require a set of change management processes to ensure that any significant change initiatives are rolled-out in a controlled and systematic manner.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In the pioneering days of safety, initiatives were based around conversations and looking at things from the worker’s perspectives. In many regards, these concerns are still at the heart of any system.
• Treating people as equals, and nurturing a partnership with safety leaders must be at the bedrock of any safety conversation in a company. Encourage conversation, dialogue and collaboration.
• The fundamental safety issue is that the way in which companies manage safety doesn't entirely fit into any safety system’s mould. Many in business see their people as the problem.
• Mental health issues are increasingly being cast into the remit of safety officers, which is fundamentally wrong. Safety professionals have an entirely different skill-set, and no specialist training in such a sensitive area.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Behavioural safety worked! If you did it properly, it worked! And it’s still the same today’

’Let’s not have a culture of fear. Let’s treat people as human beings’

‘It’s not about having any controls. It’s about having the right ones’

’They say people are the solution and traditional safety says people are the problem, which I disagree with'

 VALUABLE RESOURCES

The Interesting Health & Safety Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/vn/podcast/the-interesting-health-safety-podcast/id1467771449  

B-Safe - http://www.behavioural-safety.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Colin Nottage

‘Making health and safety as important as everything else we do.’

This is the belief that Colin is passionate about and through his consultancy Influential Management Group (IMG) is able to spread into industry. Colin works at a strategic level with company owners and board members. He helps business leaders establish and achieve their health and safety ambitions.

He has developed a number of leading competency improvement programmes that are delivered across industry and his strengths are his ability to take a practical approach to problem-solving and being able to liaise at all levels within an organisation.

Colin also runs a company that vets contractors online and a network that develops and support H&S consultancies to become better businesses.

Colin chairs the Construction Dust Partnership, an industry collaboration directly involving many organisations, including the Health and Safety Executive.

He is a Post Graduate Tutor at Strathclyde University and a highly sought-after health and safety speaker and trainer. He has a Post Graduate Certificate in Safety and Risk management, an engineering degree and is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).